


Something You're Proud Of

by Huskinata



Category: Suki Dakara Suki
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 14:21:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9275885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huskinata/pseuds/Huskinata
Summary: Hina is uncharacteristically worried and Asou tries to calm her down.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This oneshot can be considered a companion piece to my other Suki Dakara Suki fic (it takes place afterwords,) but it can be read by itself and you won't be missing anything. Enjoy!

Hinata awoke with a start, heart pounding-possibly a bad dream. It was late, almost one, but try as she might to fall asleep she couldn't shake a bad feeling. She needed to talk to somebody; Waka and Tono were nearby but as she opened her mouth to speak to them she decided she wanted to talk to someone who would respond to her. She picked up her pager, a gift from Asou, and messaged him. "Hi," the message read. Her hands were shaking. She tried to take deep breaths. It was thirty minutes before he responded.

"Are you okay? Can I call you?"

"Yeah," she replied and immediately heard her phone ring.

"Hina, are you okay?" he asked again, his voice thick with concern and guilt.

"Asou," she breathed, relieved to hear him on the other end. "I-I'm fine. Really." She wanted to tell him that she had a bad dream but before she realized it, sobs started to bubble up and she couldn't get the words out.

"Did something happen?" Now he was alarmed. When the only response was hitched sobbing he realized that she was probably shaking her head. "It's okay Hina, you're okay. Talk to me." He wanted to get her mind away from whatever bad thoughts had caused this panic attack so he offered the first thing that came to mind. "Tell me about...something you're proud of."

Not for the first time he thinks about their age gap, how Hina is still young and impressionable and easily hurt. He hated knowing that even though she was brave, could smile in the faces of kidnappers, something as simple as a bad dream could make her cry like this and he couldn't protect her from it.

"I lock the door every night, and every time I leave the house. I haven't forgotten once since you left." She said this proudly through tears. Asou once again felt guilty for not responding to her pager message earlier. He wanted to say he was sorry, that he was busy with work, but he couldn't because he knew that it wouldn't matter. If it had been an emergency it would have been too late.

"I love you, Hina," he says through the phone, this time on impulse, without the hesitation that comes with a confession. He immediately feels his face heat up but he doesn't take it back, add an addendum to soften the intimacy of the phrase. He wants to see her, hold her, know that she's safe. But right now he only has her voice.

Although her words are still shaky he can hear that the crying has stopped. "I love you too, Asou-san," she said with a smile.

They continued to talk over the phone until Asou could hear Hina trying to suppress a yawn as she spoke.

"Go to bed Hina, I'll call you in the morning."

"Okay. Good night Asou-san."

"Good night, Hina."

Content, Hina had no problem falling back to sleep, replaying Asou's words in her head as she drifted off.

In bed Assou tried not to think about how if anything happened to Hina he was too far away to help.


End file.
